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Bloomberg
An electric-vehicle charging startup that powers Amazon.com Inc’s delivery vans in the UK has agreed to merge with a US blank-check firm and go public late this year.
The transaction between EO Charging and First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corp will imply a combined enterprise value of $675 million, the companies said. The deal will net EO more than $150 million in cash.
Chief Executive Officer Charlie Jardine started Suffolk-based EO as a 24-year-old from a pig shed in his grandfather’s barn in 2014. The company has deployed roughly 50,000 chargers in more than 35 countries and serves fleet operators including Amazon, Tesco Plc and Uber Technologies Inc.
“That real focus on fleets is what has differentiated us from the competition,†Jardine said in a phone interview. “The electrification of vans, trucks and buses is just getting started.â€
EO offers customers hardware, software, installation, service and maintenance services. Its pan-European contract with Amazon, for example, includes software and service in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Ireland.